Protecting Her

by Allie Everhart

  “I just wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior,” she says. “It was my youth causing me to act out of character. But I’m older now and realize that I behaved like a foolish child around you. I hope you forgive me.”

  “Yes. It’s all forgotten.” I didn’t expect her to apologize. Maybe she’s finally maturing.

  “I spoke with your wife earlier,” Katherine says. “She has on a lovely dress tonight.”

  Her compliment doesn’t sound sincere, although I think she thought it did. She’s trying her best to put on a fake nice act, but I see right through it. I continue to search the room for Rachel.

  “I asked her if you’ll be having more children.”

  I look back at Katherine. From her sly grin, I can tell she’s testing me. Waiting to see my reaction. I’m sure Rachel told her nothing, so now she’s trying to get an answer from me.

  “You shouldn’t ask such personal questions,” I say. “Your etiquette classes should’ve taught you that.”

  “Your son is such a darling little boy. I’m sure after having him, you’re wanting to have another.” She smirks. “Unless Rachel is unable to.”

  How the hell did she know that about Rachel? Or again, is Katherine only saying it to see my reaction?

  “Gossiping about people is not an attractive quality in a woman,” I tell her. “If you’re looking to find a boyfriend, I would suggest you stop talking about others and focus on yourself.”

  “I don’t concern myself with finding a boyfriend. My father is in charge of that. He’s the one choosing my husband.”

  “And you’re okay with that?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? Father knows what I like in a man.”

  “Does he have someone in mind?”

  “Yes.” She glances around the room. “In fact, he’s here tonight.”

  “Who is it?”

  “I’m not allowed to say.”

  “When are you being set up with this man? Has your father told you?”

  “He said it may not be for a while. But I’m not in any hurry.”

  “Why would he wait? If he’s picked someone, you should go ahead and marry him.”

  “It’s complicated,” she says, twirling her hair around her finger.

  “Why don’t you go talk to this future husband of yours? I need to find my wife. Enjoy your evening, Katherine.”

  I walk away and see Rachel coming toward me. She’s wearing a deep purple dress tonight. The color looks good against her skin and her dark hair. She has on the diamond earrings and matching necklace I gave her when we got married. I’ve bought her several other pieces of jewelry since then, but these items are her favorite because they’re the first ones I ever bought her.

  “There you are.” She smiles as she approaches me. I see that smile every day, and yet every time I see it, it still does something to me. Brings me happiness. Joy. Contentment.

  I draw her into me and talk in her ear. “You look stunning this evening.”

  “Thank you.” She pulls back, her smile even wider.

  There isn’t a single woman in here who even comes close to being as gorgeous as Rachel. It’s not just her outside appearance. It’s the positive energy she gives off. I notice it even more when I’m around these people. They all seem so unhappy with their lives. So desperate to tear people down. Just being around them is stressful. But then Rachel appears and I relax.

  “Where have you been?” she asks.

  “I was talking to Jack and then I ran into Royce. He’s moving the family to Virginia.”

  “Just like Jack. Why is everyone moving to Virginia?”

  “Royce wants to get more involved in politics. Working on campaigns the past few years has made him want to run for office.”

  “For Congress?”

  “Maybe. I’m not sure. I didn’t ask.” I see my parents behind her. “My parents are coming over to talk to us.”

  She turns around and I put my arm around her.

  Rachel greets them. “Hello, Eleanor. Hello, Holton.”

  My mother says hello. My father says nothing.

  “That’s a nice suit, Holton,” Rachel says. “Is it new?”

  He stares at her, not answering. I’m sure he thought she’d yell at him for taking Garret the other day. But instead, she’s nice to him, and now he’s confused, unsure how to respond.

  “Holton, she asked you a question,” my mother says.

  “The suit is a year old,” he says to Rachel.

  “Oh. Well, it looks brand new.” She smiles at him. He looks away.

  “Where’s Garret?” my mother asks Rachel.

  “He’s playing with the other children. I should probably go check on him. Would you like to come with me?”

  She agrees to it, and the two of them go down the hall, leaving my father and me alone.

  “Pearce,” he says.

  “Father.”

  We stand there in silence. It’s sad how we never have anything to talk about. I could talk to Jack all night.

  “So Jack told me he’s moving,” I say.

  My father’s mouth moves up into a slight grin. “Yes. I heard that as well.”

  “It’s rumored that you were the one who suggested the move.”

  “Is that so? I’m pleased to know people think I have that kind of power.”

  “Yes. I thought you would be, which is why I told you.”

  He definitely did it. I don’t know how, but he was somehow able to convince them to send Jack away. To get him out of my life.

  “Your wife seems to be in a good mood this evening.” My father never uses her name and it drives me crazy. He calls her ‘that girl’ or ‘that woman’ or ‘your wife,’ but never Rachel.

  “Rachel is always in a good mood.”

  “That must become quite tedious after a while.”

  “Not at all. It’s one of the qualities that attracted me to her.”

  He scans the room. “Are we done here?”

  “I would say we’ve been seen together for an adequate length of time. Feel free to move along to someone you find more interesting.”

  He walks away without even saying goodbye. After the almost two-year period in which my parents weren’t speaking to me, they made the decision to talk to me at social events regardless of what’s going on with us behind closed doors. My mother doesn’t want other people knowing about our family problems, so she made a rule that we must talk and smile and pretend to like each other for at least a few minutes at a party or other social gathering. That’s why they came over to talk to Rachel and me. I know my father didn’t want to. He has nothing to say to us.

  “There are some other boys in there now,” Rachel says. She’s back beside me and my mother has returned to my father, who is talking to one of the members.

  “What do you mean?” I ask Rachel.

  “When we first got here, Garret was upset because the room was full of girls.” She laughs. “Although I think he has a little crush on one of the girls. When I was in there just now, he was sitting next to her and drawing her a picture.” She nudges me. “You never drew ME a picture.”

  I kiss her cheek. “I’ll be sure to do that for our anniversary.” I point to the side of the room. “There’s Grace and Arlin. Do you want to go talk to them?”

  “Yes. Let’s go over there. They’re such a nice couple.”

  We spend the next half hour talking to them. Then they leave to get a drink and talk to some other people.

  I check my watch. “We’ve been here a couple hours. Let’s go home.”

  This is a Dunamis party and members are expected to stay for at least an hour, so I’ve done my duty.

  “Okay,” Rachel says. “Let’s go get Garret.”

  We go to the children’s room and find Garret playing a ring-toss game with some of the other boys.

  I call out to him. “Garret, let’s go. We’re going home.”

  “I’m almost done.” He tosses a blue ring and it lands on the target. �
�Yes! I won!” He runs over to us and the other boys yell, “Bye, Garret!” all at the same time. Garret makes friends wherever he goes. He has a lot of friends at school too. I was never that popular as a child.

  We start to leave but he pulls on my suit jacket. “Wait. I have to tell Lexi goodbye.” He runs over to a little girl with dark brown hair, wearing a blue dress. She’s the only girl in the room not wearing pink or purple.

  “That’s his crush,” Rachel whispers. “An older woman. I think she’s eight.”

  Garret says something to her, then gives her a quick hug and runs off. I catch Sadie watching him out of the corner of her eye. She’s already nosy like her mother.

  “Okay, we can go.” He waits until we’re out of the room and then he takes my hand, like he always does. When we’re in a public place, I like to always know where he is, so he’s been taught to either hold my hand or Rachel’s hand. And although he doesn’t need to do so here at the party, he does because it’s all he knows.

  “Dad, can we watch a movie when we get home?”

  “I think it’ll be too late for that.”

  “But it’s not a school night.” He looks up at me with those big blue eyes. I find it hard to say no to him. He’s so cute, wearing his dress pants and shirt and tie. All the children are required to dress up for these parties, even if they’re going to spend the evening in the play area.

  “Haven’t you had enough movies this week?” I ask him.

  “Nope. I like movies. And I like watching them with you and Mom, even though you kiss sometimes. But I try not to look.”

  Rachel smiles at me.

  “Okay,” I say. “One movie, but it has to be a short one.”

  “Are you leaving already?” Cecil Roth steps in front of me, blocking my path.

  “Yes. We need to get home.”

  I smile and act friendly, even though I’m not fond of Mr. Roth. He’s someone who believes in creating even stricter rules for our members. And he always votes for the harshest punishment for members who act out. So I try to stay on his good side, but he doesn’t like me because I married Rachel.

  Right before I married her, Roth introduced my father to his business colleagues in Europe. That trip landed us two new clients in England and one in Germany, making our company international. Then I married Rachel, and Roth stopped helping us get new business. It’s just another reason why my father hates me.

  “I remember you,” Garret says to Roth. “You were one of the grandfathers.”

  Grandfathers? I’m not sure what Garret means.

  Roth smiles. “I’m not a grandfather.”

  “Oh.” Garret stares at him. “You look like a grandfather. You have gray hair and wrinkles.”

  Rachel covers her mouth to hide her laughter. But I’m not laughing.

  “Garret, when did you meet Mr. Roth?” I ask.

  “When Grandfather took me for ice cream.”

  So Roth was one of the men assessing Garret. I wonder if Roth assessed all the children, or just Garret.

  “How are you doing, Garret?” Roth asks him, leaning down so he’s at Garret’s level.

  “I’m good.” Garret steps closer to me. I think Roth scared him by getting in his face like that.

  “We really need to go.” I put my arm around Garret’s shoulder and usher him away. “Goodbye, Cecil.”

  “Pearce, who was that?” Rachel asks, coming up beside me.

  “Cecil Roth. He’s a business associate. A friend of my father’s.”

  “Is he one of the men who met Garret the other day?”

  “Yes. I wasn’t aware that he was there that day, but according to Garret, he was.”

  We’re at the door now and I give the maid the ticket for our coats, and the valet the ticket for our car.

  “Wait here,” I tell Rachel. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Martha wanted to say goodbye to Garret.” It’s not true. It’s just an excuse so I can get Garret alone. “I see Martha going down the hall. We’ll be right back.”

  I take Garret back to the room where the party is going on.

  “I don’t see Aunt Martha,” he says.

  “She must’ve left.” I pick up Garret so he can see the people in the crowd. “Garret, I need you to tell me if you see any of the men you and your grandfather met with last week.”

  He scans the room. “I see Mr. Roth.”

  “Besides him, anyone else?”

  “I see Grandfather.”

  “Yes, but do you see any of those other men?”

  He shakes his head. “Nope. Can we go home now?”

  “Yes.” I set him down and take his hand and we meet up with Rachel.

  “Did you find her?” she asks.

  “No. She disappeared into the crowd. Is the car ready?”

  “Yes. Here’s your coat.” She hands it to me, then helps Garret with his.

  We go home and Garret watches his movie while Rachel snuggles with me on the couch. I’m trying to relax, but I feel on edge after being at that party. I don’t like the fact that Roth met Garret last week. And I really don’t like that Jack is no longer allowed to communicate with me outside of Dunamis meetings. I feel like I’m being punished, but for what? Surely that’s not THE punishment. The one I’m still waiting for.

  No. My punishment for marrying Rachel will be much bigger than that. So what is it going to be? And when will it happen?

  I can’t take it. I can’t take another moment of waiting and wondering. Another hour. Another day. Another week. Another year. I just want it to be over. Right now.

  What are they waiting for? Why haven’t they done it? The longer they wait, the more worried I get. They wouldn’t wait this long unless it was something really big. So what the hell is it?

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Four Years Later

  PEARCE

  “If you can get me those reports by Monday, we’ll be good on our deadline,” I say, ending the meeting. “I’ll see you next week.”

  I leave the weekly marketing meeting and head down to my office. My father stops me in the hall.

  “Pearce, we need to meet this afternoon about that new client in Ohio.”

  “Yes, I know. I’m meeting someone for lunch. I’ll come to your office as soon as I get back.”

  “Who are you meeting for lunch?”

  “Logan. I mean, Dr. Cunningham.”

  My father smiles. “Give him my best.”

  “Yes. I’ll do so.” I hurry past him and continue to my office. I’m already five minutes late meeting him and the restaurant is ten minutes away. I call Logan quick to tell him I’ll be late.

  On the way there I get stuck in traffic and end up arriving even later.

  “I’m sorry I’m so late,” I say, taking the seat across from him. “You came all this way to see me, and then I show up late. I apologize. I should’ve kept a closer eye on the clock.”

  “It’s fine.” Logan looks tired. Or maybe it’s stress. Logan has been working at the Clinic now for almost ten years and he’s slowly learning more about the organization. It’s a hazard of the job. The longer you work there, the more you find out.

  “How is work?” I ask him.

  Before he can answer, the waiter stops by our table. “Would you like a drink?” he asks me.

  I notice Logan already has a drink. That’s odd. He rarely drinks, and when he does, it’s never at lunch.

  “I’ll have a bourbon, neat,” I say to the waiter. He takes off.

  I don’t usually drink at lunch, but if Logan’s imbibing, I might as well join him.

  “How have things been with your father?” Logan asks.

  “Better than usual. The past year or so, he’s been almost tolerable. He still tells me I’m doing everything wrong and need to work harder, but he doesn’t do it nearly as much as he used to. Just once or twice a day instead of his usual five or six times.”

  Logan smiles. “I don’t know how yo
u put up with it.”

  “You learn to tune it out after a while.”

  “Do you ever see Jack?”

  “No. I haven’t seen him in years.”

  Logan knows about my friendship with Jack. He knows Jack was like a father to me. When Jack moved, I told Logan that Jack was so busy with work that he didn’t have time for me anymore.

  I told Rachel the same thing. Rachel talked to Martha a few times after they moved, but then Martha stopped returning Rachel’s calls. Rachel couldn’t understand why and the only explanation I could give her is that Jack and Martha didn’t have time for us anymore. She was deeply hurt and upset, not just for herself, but for Garret. He missed his Uncle Jack and Aunt Martha.

  Eventually, we all moved on. We don’t talk about them much anymore. I see Jack at the end-of-the-year Dunamis meetings, but that’s it. He no longer attends the Dunamis events here in Connecticut. Instead, he goes to the meetings in DC. There’s a Dunamis chapter there because so many of our members live in the DC area.

  “That’s too bad,” Logan says. “I know you two were close.”

  “People move on. That’s just how it goes.”

  Actually, I still talk to Jack. I just can’t tell Logan that. Or Rachel. A couple months after Jack moved, I received a box in the mail. I opened it up and inside was a very small cell phone. When I turned it on, there was a number already programmed in it. Instead of a name attached to the number, there was simply the word ‘rare.’ I immediately thought of Jack because that’s how he likes his steak. I hit the send button and he picked up on the third ring.

  “You didn’t think I’d never talk to you again, did you?” he said when he answered.

  I smiled. I was thrilled to hear his voice again. “How are you able to do this? They can track a cell phone. They can hack into it and listen to our conversation.”

  “With an ordinary cell phone, yes. But not this one. I rigged it so it can’t be tampered with. I’ve already tested it out, and trust me, we’re safe. Those fuckers will never find out. But keep it hidden away in a safe place. I don’t want them finding it.”

  “Jack, thank you for doing this. I’ve had no one to talk to and—well, I just really needed to talk to you again.”